Lawrence, MA

Just to caution you South Lawrence is by far the most dangerous place on the entire Pan Am system, day or night. Pedestrians stream across and through the yard at all hours. Auto thefts and breaks occur with great frequency in the neighborhoods surrounding Andover Street.

TPR37777 wrote:Just to caution you South Lawrence is by far the most dangerous place on the entire Pan Am system, day or night. Pedestrians stream across and through the yard at all hours. Auto thefts and breaks occur with great frequency in the neighborhoods surrounding Andover Street.

Too general. My sister lives in South Lawrence [Beacon Hill area], and there's none of what you describe. There's a lot more to Lawrence [both sides of the river, BTW], than Andover St.

Rockingham Racer wrote:Too general. My sister lives in South Lawrence [Beacon Hill area], and there's none of what you describe. There's a lot more to Lawrence [both sides of the river, BTW], than Andover St.

There is no Beacon Hill in Lawrence, if you mean that she lives off of Beacon Street in the southwest highlands toward the Andover line that area is referred to as Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon is an area consisting of mostly single family, owner-occupied homes. I was referring to South Lawrence, the area bounded by South Broadway, 495, and Merrimack Street, as in the area within which lay the Lawrence yard. The two areas are vastly different.

LOL! Tower Hill, Prospect Hill, but not Beacon Hill. That's 26 miles south by the Common! To get back to the topic, though, I used to hang out at the Andover St. crossing on occasion on the yard side, when it was possible to do so "back when". And I usually was not the only one. No problems then, and I think I've seen people on the NW side in more recent times.

Rockingham Racer wrote:

TPR37777 wrote:Just to caution you South Lawrence is by far the most dangerous place on the entire Pan Am system, day or night. Pedestrians stream across and through the yard at all hours. Auto thefts and breaks occur with great frequency in the neighborhoods surrounding Andover Street.

Too general. My sister lives in South Lawrence [Beacon Hill area], and there's none of what you describe. There's a lot more to Lawrence [both sides of the river, BTW], than Andover St.

It's still the most dangerous place on the system, with a close second being Holyoke. Ask the conductors you see how many carry heat working the ground at night.

While not on the main line, Waterbury, CT and Springfield are right up there too...

I feel like we've had this discussion about Lawrence before. Am I having déjà vu or did we have another thread about some "highly dangerous" place on the railroad?

For some positive/upbeat news about Lawrence (although I'll admit it's slightly off-topic), read this:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/0 ... aign=sm_tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We have talked about this before, and I apologize for hijacking the thread. I used to patrol that area on a regular basis and I just wanted to at least mention the need to be careful in that area. Yes, there is a lot more to Lawrence but Ayer, Westford (watch out for railroad managers), Lowell, or even Haverhill offer much safer alternatives especially as far as parking goes.

I actually parked my van near a grade crossing west of the rail yard. I walked over and spent 5-10 minutes around the yard and ran into no trouble. I was just taking pictures with my i-phone when a freight came by. I believe I saw someone else do the same. There were a few shady people but definitely didn't feel unsafe at all.

I've been at a job near CPF-FR since January, and on several occasions, I've seen POED in the morning (usually between 7:30-9 when I've seen it), and it sometimes ties down on Track 17 between CPF-AS and FR. SEPO usually comes through around mid-day, and LA-1 is out and about by FR at various times between mid morning and mid afternoon.

In terms of safety, while Lawrence is not not the safest place, the area around FR (and as you go closer to the North Andover border) is generally fine during the day. As mentioned above, the area west of South Union can be a little hairier, but I've driven though a few times during daylight and not felt too uncomfortable from inside my car.

Lawrence Eagle Tribune wrote:By Brian Messenger LAWRENCE — Police arrested a North Andover man yesterday and charged him in the Friday night shooting at the Merrimack Street commuter rail station in Lawrence.

http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x9554 ... in-station" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Granted this was a few years ago, but I can not recall a shooting on an MBTA commuter rail platform in recent memory, let alone one right in front of a new garage with a Lawrence Police substation inside. And with a shotgun to boot. There are many hard working, honest people in Lawrence, but it is also known nationwide as a hub for drug trafficking. I have spoken with police officers from as far away as California who were familiar with Lawrence. My second apologies for hijacking the thread, now back to freight action in Lawrence.....

TPR37777 wrote:We have talked about this before...

Thanks; just wanted to make sure I was remember correctly. I found the old thread and merged it with this one.

Commuting home, the past couple of weeks I've often seen a WB freight in or near Lawrence about 1730.

When I can't catch my train in Haverhill, I drive to Lawrence and park for free on Market St. next to the South Common. The car isn't fancy, but no problems to date.